An image from the YouTube posted by Amanda Todd, a teen who killed herself after being tormented by bullies.Vancouver Sun
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A woman watches the video Amanda Todd posted on YouTube shortly before taking her own life. A sort of cyber-lynch mob has formed as anonymous Internet users are publicly naming those they see as responsible for Todd's death.Mladen Antonov/AFP/Getty Images

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The mother of a young man whose name has been splashed all over the Internet as being the person who taunted and blackmailed Amanda Todd said Tuesday her family has been subjected to a “lynch mob” mentality and urged the public to let the police do their investigation.

“It’s really dangerous to throw out names when you don’t know,” she told Postmedia News, at times breaking into sobs.

“This is doing more harm than good.”

Her comments echoed a statement put out by police Tuesday that said the investigation into Todd’s death had been hampered due to investigators having to respond to “unfounded” allegations and Internet rumours, as the medium that haunted the young girl’s life continued to plague her family even after her death.

The 15-year-old girl from Port Coquitlam, B.C., committed suicide last Wednesday. She had previously posted a YouTube video in which she described being the victim of years of bullying.

It started in Grade 7 when she flashed her breasts in front of a webcam, she said. The person on the other end later threatened her and circulated those images online.

This week, the loose collective of online “hacktivists” known as Anonymous, alleged that a man from New Westminster, B.C., was Todd’s tormentor. It listed an address, email address and other personal information supposedly belonging to the man.

A man with the same name appeared this week in provincial court in Surrey, B.C., where he faces charges in a separate case of sexual assault and sexual touching of a minor.

The release of his name prompted a flurry of online comments — even the creation of Facebook pages — threatening his life.

The young man’s mother said Tuesday when her son was about 14, he sent to police the names of individuals — including a man in New York — who patronized a website containing photos of young children.

She said she grounded her son and told him to stop because it was dangerous. She said she now wonders whether the people he had outed to police in the past might be seeking retribution.

People don’t realize how quickly rumours can spread online and potentially “ruin lives,” the mother said. She said her younger school-age children had already lost friends at school because of the publicity surrounding her older son.

The mother said police should be allowed to carry out their investigation and let the justice system take its course. They have far more investigative tools than citizens on social media, she said.

Who knows how much information put out by online hacktivists is even accurate, she said. “Half the stuff can be doctored.”

She described her son as “simple, sweet and caring.”

“Yeah, he has issues, like we all do — but he’s not a creepy street hoodlum doing crime,” the mother said.

“He’s still my son. I love him.”

In a news release Tuesday, RCMP Sgt. Peter Thiessen said investigators have been sifting through thousands of tips related to Todd’s death.

But that effort has been slowed, he said, because of the “considerable time” investigators have spent responding to false information spread online and through social media.

“One unfounded allegation involved the release of information that spread quickly online identifying a man as Amanda’s tormenter,” he said.

“Another rumour involved the supposed release of Amanda Todd’s autopsy photos. This was quickly debunked by the BC Coroner’s Service but nevertheless caused extreme stress for Amanda’s family and distracted investigators for hours.”

Thiessen added that a number of “fake” websites have been created purporting to be fundraising for the Todd family.

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